Despite Snapchat’s new brand marketing campaign aimed at distinguishing itself from other social media platforms, advertisers remain uncertain about the platform’s value. While a Snapchat spokesperson emphasized the campaign’s focus on promoting feelings of comfort, happiness, and connection among users, advertisers are reportedly yet to see a convincing pitch for how this could translate into a worthy investment for their ads business.
Snapchat, boasting an audience of over 800 million people, faced criticism for potentially missing an opportunity to capitalize on the campaign and pitch its unique offering to advertisers. Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst of social media at eMarketer, noted that despite Snapchat’s claim of not being a traditional social media platform, it is still vying for the same advertising dollars.
Snapchat’s quarterly revenue growth sits at 5% or $1.36 billion, dwarfed by Meta’s 25% or $40.1 billion growth. To succeed, advertisers suggest Snapchat should more closely conform to industry norms, including focusing on public-facing spaces, broadening its demographic, and enhancing its performance and analytics capabilities.
Advertising executives feel that despite Snapchat’s technological innovations, the platform is lacking in sophisticated measuring tools, making it challenging to assess their return on investment, thus categorizing it as a tier two advertising platform. Some advertisers see the value in Snapchat’s audience, while others argue that comparable audiences at scale can be found on platforms like TikTok.
Yet, there have been positive growth signs for Snapchat as well. Laura Desmond, CEO of Smartly, mentioned a 100% increase in incremental spending on Snapchat via Smartly year over year. A recent survey indicated that 95% of the 300 brands polled are advertising on Snapchat, indicating potential growth.
Snapchat is said to be improving its analytics, investing in Estimated Conversions to better measure ad performance and focusing on click-through conversions. Despite this, the platform is still deemed far behind Meta in these areas.
In conclusion, while Snapchat’s unique branding attempt has received mixed feedback, there is still optimism for its future ad business. Further improvements in its analytics capabilities and measurement tools may just boost its viability among advertisers.
